Dispensing slide mechanism



J. C. WAHL DISPENSQIING SLIDE MECHANISM AIl l Filed May 2e, 1954' `lune 7, 1938.

June 7, 1938. J. c. WAHL msPENsING sLxDE MECHANISM Filed May 26, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 7, 1938. J. c. WAHL 2,119,897

` DISPENSING SLIDE MECHANISM Filed May 26, 1934. 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented June 7, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Novelty Company, of Illinois Chicago, Ill., a corporation Application May 26, 1934, Serial No. 727,677

12 Claims.

This invention relates to dispensing devices for metal checks or the like used for operating checkcontrolled amusement machines, or for other purposes, and has for its general object the provision of a device of this character which is simple and efficient in construction and operation, and which is more certain in its action and less likely to get out of order than devices for this purpose which have heretofore been in use.

A more particular object of the invention is the provision in such a device of means to prevent jamming or breakage of parts of the mechanism in case checks of inexact dimensions, as those which are too thick or too thin, nd their way into the device and cause misalignment with the operating mechanism.

Another important object is the provision of a device of this character in which the checks are arranged in a-stack and those to be discharged on any particular operation of the device are merely separated from the lower part of the stack by one of a series of separating slides operating in conjunction with a supporting and release slide normally positioned underneath the stack and adapted to be moved out of supporting position simultaneously with the advance of any one of said separating slides.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent as I proceed with my specification, which, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a device in which my invention is embodied;

Fig. 2; is a partial longitudinal section taken along the line 2 -2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device with the top plate removed and showing certain of the parts in different positions from 'those shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation taken from the right in Figs. 1 and 3;

Fig. 5 is a side view of the device looking in the direction of the arrows indicated at 5 5 in Fig. l; and

Fig. 6 is a side elevation looking in the direction of the arrows indicated at 6 5 in Fig. 1.

The device shown in said drawings, as an illustrative embodiment of the invention, comprises a base plate Il having an aperture I2 near one end thereof and having mounted thereon a release slide or gate I3 and a plurality of slides I4', arranged in stacked relationship with spacing members therebetween, including plates I5 and yielding members 56, which will be more fully described hereinafter, said base plate II alsosupporting the operating mechanism for said slides, which mechanism will be hereinafter specifically described. It will be understood that the device is adapted to be positioned in a vending or amusement machine, and will be suitably supported in proper relationship to certain mechanism of the machine adapted to control the operation of the device and also in suitable position for the discharge of tokens or other contents of the device into a discharge chute leading to a tray, from which they may be removed by the operator of the machine. The separating slides are formed with apertures which are normally in alignment with openings formed between the spacing plates I5 and yielding members 56, to provide a vertical chute I6 adapted to contain a column of metal tokens or checks which may be delivered thereinto through a tube Il" fragmentarily shown in the drawings. The gate I3 has an aperture I8 which is normally outvof registration with the s chute I6, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, but is adapted to be moved into registration with said chute when said gate is advanced to the forward position shown in Fig. 3.

The spacing plates I5 are held in fixed position by means of screws I9 at the four corners of the assembly, as shown in Fig. 1, and the separating slides I4 are mounted for sliding action between saidV plates being held in place by means of a screw 2| extending through elongated slots 22 in the slides. Said slides are pivotally connected at their rear ends with actuating links 23 which are slotted at 24Y to receive lugs 25 on bell crank levers 26 which are pivoted at 2l and are normally held in` the position shown in Fig. 1 by means of springs 28 connected at one end to hooks 29 on said levers 26, and at the opposite end to xed hooks 3ll protruding from the spacing plates I5. 'Ihe lateral arms 32 of said bell crank levers 26 are formed with lugs 33 on one side thereof, and the ends 34 of said arms extend through slots 35 in an upstanding plate 35 at the outer extremity of a laterally projecting portion 3l of the base plate IAI.

On the rear end of the gate I3 there is provided an actuating member 38 pivoted on a stud 3.9, and having at its outer end an angular flange 4i adapted to engage a shoulder 42 at the forward end of a recess 43 formed in the side of the links 23 connecting the bell crank levers 26 with the separating slides Mp A spring 44 extends between a hook (not shown) on the member 38 and a hook 46 formed on one of the fixed spacing plates I5'. Said spring thus serves to draw said gate lf3 forwardly when the latter is released for such movement as will presently appear. A pin 38a mounted in the gate I3, limits the forward movement of the member 38 under the pull of the spring 44.

Said gate I3 also has a stud 41 on the upper face thereof which is adapted to be engaged by an actuating mechanism (not shown) to move said gate to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1, in which position it is normally held. Upon release of said stud 41, which may be accomplished by disengaging the actuating mechanism therefrom in any suitable manner, said gate I3 will be permitted to move forwardly under the influence of the spring 44, and the parts will be moved to the position shown in dotted lines in said Fig. 1, being stopped in this position (in case the members 26 and 23 are not actuated) by the engagement of a dog 48, formed on the lower part of the pivoted member 38, with an upstanding lug 49 at the edge of the base plate II. If, however, one of the bell crank levers 26 has been moved in clockwise direction on the pivot 21, thereby moving the corresponding link 23 in clockwise direction on its pivot, the flange 4I will engage the shoulder 42 on said link 23, causing the latter to be moved and the separating slide I4 to which it is connected forwardly to the position shown in Fig. 3. It will be noted from the latter figure that the engagement of said flange 4I with said shoulder 42 causes the member 38 to turn in clockwise direction on its pivot 39 when the slide I3 is moved forwardly, and this turning action causes the dog 48 to clear the stop lug 49, thus permitting the release gate I3 and the separating slide I4 to move to their full forward position, as shown in said Fig. 3. This action will cause the portion of the separating slide at the rear of the aperture therein to move into the chute I6, advancing the check in alignment with such slide and supporting the checks in the stack above the level of said slide. The retracted and advanced position of said slide are shown in Figs. 1 and 3, respectively, from which it will appear that the slides constitute apertured plates, the forward ends of which are normally in the position shown in Fig. 1 and are adapted to be advanced to the position shown in Fig. 3. Inasmuch as the forward movement of the gate I3 at the same time brings the opening I8 therein into registration with the bottom of the chute I6, all checks below the particular separating slide which has been operated, will be allowed to drop out through the opening I2 in the base plate II, and will fall into the delivery tray (not shown) from which they may be removed by the operator. The forward end of the gate I3 is serrated, as indicated at 5I, and at the end of the forward stroke of said gate engages a stop member 52 beneath a guard 53, which stop member and guard are secured to the base plate II by means of screws 54.

In case the checks or other discs 55 in the chute I6 are not of uniform thickness, it may be that they would not be in alignment with the slides I4 and spacing plates I5, and in this case there would be a tendency for the device to jam, with consequent danger of breakage or distortion of certain parts, except for an important feature of my invention which will now be described. I provide pivoted members 56 above and below each of the slides I4, said members being pivoted on a pivot pin 51 extending upwardly from the base plate I I, said members being normally held in the position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings by means of springs 53 connected at one end with hooks 59 on said members 56 and at the other end with hooks 6I on fixed spacing plates 62, which are in alignment with the plates I5 and are held in place by means of the forward screws I9. The forward ends of said members 56 are of arcuate form, as shown in Figs. l and 3. and' are adapted to yield against the tension of the springs 58 when one of the checks or discs is forced thereagainst by the actuated separating slide I4. This will permit completion ofthe cycle of operation of the device, and, when said slide has returned, the member 56 will bereturned to its normal position by the action of the spring 58. This is a highly desirable feature sint/e it is not infrequent that one or more of the discs`\ in the chute are too thin or are otherwise of abnormal dimension so that the problem solved by this improvement is a serious one from the standpoint of practical use of the device.

The selection of the slide to be operated (which of course determines the number of checks or discs to be released upon any actuation of the device) is controlled by levers (not shown), which may extend through slots 63 in the lateral extension 31 of the base plate II, said levers corresponding in number to the number of bell crank levers 26 and the lugs 33 on the arms 32 of said bell crank levers, being arranged to correspond to the number of operating levers, whereby the operation of one of said levers will operate the corresponding bell crank 26. The elbow portions of said bell cranks are positioned in slots 64 in a plate 65, and the outer ends 66 of the links 23 are disposed in slots 61 in a plate 68, both said plates extending upwardly from the base plate II to which they are secured. The links 23 are provided with lugs 69, forming the rear wall of the recesses 43, said lugs being adapted to be engaged by the member 38 on the return stroke thereof to move the operated link and the separating slide, to which it is connected, back to the normal position shown in Fig. 1 after the device has been operated.

The operation of the device may be briefly summarized as follows:

Assuming that the chute I6 is filled with checks or other discs (as it normally will be since checks inserted in the machine will be continually directed through the tube I1 to said chute), the actuation of the machine will move the control member which cooperates with the stud 41, such movement allowing the slide I3 to move forwardly under the influence of the spring 44, which, as above stated, is connected at one end with the member 38 mounted on said slide. If none of the bell cranks 26 is operated, the gate or plate I3 will move only to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1, in which position it will be stopped by engagement of the dog 48 with the lug 49. The reverse stroke of the mechlanism will then move said slide back to the full line position shown in Fig. 1, and none of the checks in the chute I6 will be released since the movement of the gate I3 will not have been suflicient to bring the aperture I6 therein into alignment with the aperture I2 in the base plate II. However, if one of the bell cranks 26 has been actuated by action of one of the control levers against the lug 33 on the arm 32 of said bell crank, the corresponding link 23 will have been moved in the initial stages of the operation from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 3, disposing the shoulder 42 on said link in the path of the flange 4I on the member 38, which will result in turning said member 38 on its pivot to the position shown in Fig, 3 and advancing the link 23 and the slide I4 towhich it is connected to the forward position shown in said figure. The stroke may be completed by reason of the fact that the turning of the member 38 on its pivot will have moved the dog 48 on said member inwardly as shown, thus causing it to clear the lug 45, this action also permitting the gate H3 to advance to its full forward position, thereby bringing the aperture I 8 into reg,- istration with the aperture l2 and allowing all checks beneath the actuated separating slide to drop through said aligned apertures into a ydelivery chute and tray, as above described. In case the checks, due to improper thickness or other cause, are out of alignment in the chute I6 so that the advancing slide will engage the check above or the one below the level of the slide, such check will engage one of the members 56, which will yield against the tension of its associated spring 58, thus allowing the stroke to be completed without damage to the device or the operating mechanism of the machine, as otherwise might occur. When the operating parts have returned to normal position, said member 56 will be returned to the position shown in Fig. l by the action of the spring 5,8, thereby returning the check to its position in the chute. The machine may then be opened, and the ,check or checks which have caused the misalignment removed.

It will be observed that in the operation lof the device, it is not necessary to carry the checks forwardly to a point of delivery as in former mechanisms, nor is it necessary to move more than one slide to release a plurality of checks, since all checks beneath the actuated separating slide will be released through the actuation of but one separating slide and the release gate or plate I3, in the manner hereinabove described.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, but the appended claims should be construed as broadly as permissible, in View of the prior art.

What I regard as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A dispensing device for metal checks or the like comprising a plurality of slides and spacing members arranged alternately in stacked relationship said slides and spacing members being formed to provide, when in normal relationship to each other, a chute for receiving a stack of checks, a gate member mounted beneath said slides, and means for advancing a selected one of said slides to cause such slide to support the checks in the stack above such slide and for moving said gate member out of supporting relation to said stack, thereby releasing for discharge all checks beneath said slide.

2. A dispensing device for metal checks or the like comprising a plurality of slides and spacing members arranged alternately in stacked relationship said slides and spacing members being formed to provide, when in normal relationship to each other, a chute for receiving a stack of checks, a gate mounted beneath said slides, means for advancing a selected one of said slides to cause such slide to support the checks in the stack above such slide and for moving said gate out of supporting relation to said stack, thereby releasing for discharge all checks beneath said slide, said spacing members including plates arranged between the slides on the rear side of `Said Chute and yielding members positioned between said slides on the forward side of said chute each in the same plane with its respective plate, said yielding members being adapted to yield under pressure of checks forced against the same by an advancing slidein case of misalignment of the checks in the chute.

3. A dispensing device for metal checks or the like comprising a plurality of slides and spacing members arranged alternately in stacked relationship said slides and spacing members being formed to provide, when in normal relationship to each other, a. chute for vreceiving a stack of checks, a gate mounted beneath said slides, means for advancing a selected one .of said slides to cause such slide to support the checks in the stack above such slide and for moving said gate out of supporting relation to said stack, thereby releasing for discharge all checks beneath said slide, said spacing members including plates arranged between the slides on the rear side of said chute yielding members positioned between said slides on the forward side of said chute each in the same plane with its respective plate,

said yielding members being adapted to yield under pressure of checks forced against the same by an advancing slide in case of misalignment of the checks in the chute, and spring means for returning said yielding members to normal position when the pressure is released.

4. A dispensing device for metal checks or the K like comprising .a plurality of slides and spacing members arranged alternately in stacked relationship said slides and spacing members being formed to provide, when in normal relationship f to each other, a chute for receiving a stack of checks, a gate mounted beneath said slides, means for advancing a selected one of said slides to cause such slide to` support the checks in the stack above such slide and for moving said gate out of supporting relation to said stack, thereby releasing for discharge all checks beneath said slide, said spacing members including plates arranged between the slides on the rear side of said chute and pivoted members of arcuate formation positioned between said slides on the forward side of said chute each in the sameplane with its respective plate, said yielding members being adapted to yield under pressure of checks forced against the same by an advancing slide in case of misalignment of the checks in the chute.

5. A dispensing device for metal checks or the like comprising a plurality of slides and spacing members arranged alternately in stacked relationship said slides and spacing members being formed to provide, when in normal relationship to each other, a chute for receiving a stack of checks, a gate mounted beneath said slides, links pivotally connected to said slides, control members connected with said links and adapted, when one of said members is actuated, to move an associated link laterally, means for moving said gate out of supporting relation to said stack, and means movable with said gate for engaging `a protruding part of the laterally displaced link to move the same and the slide to which it is connected forwardly tocause said slide to support the checks above said slide.

6. A dispensing device for metal checks or the like comprising a plurality of slides and spacing members arranged alternately in stacked relationship said slides and spacing members being formed to provide, when in normal relationship to each other, a chute for receiving a stack of checks, a gate mounted beneath said slides, links pivotally connected to said slides, control members connected with said links and adapted, when one of said members is actuated, to move an associated link laterally, means for moving said gate out of supporting relation to said stack, a pivotally mounted device movable with said gate for engaging a protruding part of the laterally displaced link to move the same and the slide to which it is connected forwardly to cause said slide to support the checks above said slide, and stop means engageable by said last mentioned device, in case one of said links has not been displaced laterally to position to engage said device and turn the same on its pivot, said stop means in such event preventing movement of said supporting and release member out of supporting position.

'1. A dispensing device for metal checks or the like comprising a plurality of slides and spacing members arranged alternately in stacked relationship said slides and spacing members being formed to provide, when in normal relationship to each other, a chute for receiving a stack of checks, a gate mounted beneath said slides, links pivotally connected to said slides, control members of bell crank formation connected with said links and adapted when one of said members is actuated to move an associated link laterally, means for moving said gate out of supporting relation to said stack, and` means movable with said gate for engaging a protruding part of the laterally displaced link to move the same and the slide to which it is connected forwardly to cause said slide to support the checks above said slide.

8. A dispensing device for metal checks or the like, means forming a chute for receiving a stack of checks, said means including a plurality of movable slides having normally aligned apertures therein in which said stack of checks is received, a gate normally closing said opening and retaining the checks therein, means for advancing said gate and a selected one of said slides to move the gate out of its closing position and cause said slide to support the checks above the same in said chute, thereby allowing the checks beneath said slide to be discharged, and controllable means for effecting interconnection between said plate and one or another of said slides upon each operation of the device.

9. A dispensing device for metal checks or the like, means forming a chute for receiving a stack of checks, said means including a plurality of movable slides having normally aligned apertures therein in which said stack of checks is received, a gate normally closing said opening and retaining the checks therein, means for advancing said gate and a selected one of said slides to move the gate out of its closing position and cause said slide to support the checks above the same in said chute, thereby allowing the checks beneath said slide to be discharged, controllable means for effecting interconnection between said plate and one or another of said slides upon each operation of the device, and yielding members intermediate said slides positioned forwardly of said opening for preventing jamming of the device in case, due to varying thickness of the checks, or to other cause, the operated slide should engage the check above or the one below the level of said slide, thus forcing the same against one of said yielding members.

10. A dispensing device for metal checks or the like, means forming a chute for receiving a stack of checks, said means including a plurality of movable slides having normally aligned apertures therein in which said stack of checks is received, a gate normally closing said opening and retaining the checks therein, means for advancing said gate and a selected one of said slides to move the gate out of its closing position and cause said slide to support the checks above the same in said chute, thereby allowing the checks beneath said slide to be discharged, controllable means for effecting interconnection between said plate and one or another of said slides upon each operation of the device, and pivotally mounted yielding members intermediate said slides positioned forwardly of said opening for preventing jamming of the device in case, due to varying thickness of the checks, or to other cause, the operated slide should engage the check above or the one below the level of said slide, thus forcing the same against one of said pivotally mounted yielding members.

11. A dispensing device for metal checks or the like, means forming a chute for receiving a stack of checks, and means including a plurality of movable slides having normally aligned apertures therein in which said stack of checks is received, a gate normally closing said opening and retaining the checks therein, means for advancing said gate and a selected one of said slides to move the gate out of its closing position and cause said slide to support the checks above the same in said chute, thereby allowing the checks beneath said slide to be discharged, controllable means for effecting interconnection between said plate and one or another of said slides upon each operation of the device, pivotally mounted yielding members intermediate said slides positioned forwardly of said opening for preventing jamming of the device in case, due to varying thickness of the checks, 0r to other cause, the operated slide should engage the check above or the one below the level of said slide, thus forcing the same against one of said pivotally mounted yielding members, and spring means for returning said members to normal position upon release of the pressure thereon.

12. A dispensing device for metal checks or the like comprising a plurality of movable separating slides having normally aligned apertures therein, a slidable release plate mounted beneath said separating slides, and means for moving a selected one of said separating slides and said release plate to cause said slide to support the checks above the level of said slide in a stack thereof arranged in the opening provided by said aligned apertures, and to cause said release plate to move out of supporting relation to said stack of checks whereby all checks beneath said separating slide Will be discharged from the device.

JOHN C. WAHL. 

